Haroon Lorgat sees a lot of potential in Pakistan Super League

Haroon Lorgat sees a lot of potential in Pakistan Super League

Former ICC chief Haroon Lorgat has said that the Pakistan Super League should not be underestimated, as it has got the tools to become a successful event. He was talking to the media during a ceremony conducted by the Pakistan Cricket Board in Lahore.

“People should not underestimate the potential of the Twenty20 league in Pakistan,” Lorgat said. “With the rising popularity of T20 cricket, every ICC member country has the right to host its own professional league. Pakistan has done hard work and I hope
with foreign players’ participation, perceptions about the country will change. I can see a lot of work has been done in parallel against many odds, but certainly this league will be come into reality shortly.”

There has been no international cricket in Pakistan since the Sri Lankan team bus was attacked by terrorists in Lahore. However, the International Cricket Council has been trying to convince foreign teams to tour the troubled country.

Lorgat had put in some efforts for the resumption of international cricket in Pakistan during his tenure as the ICC chief. Therefore, the PCB decided to involve him in managing the PSL, which will have a different format to some of the other popular leagues
such as the Indian Premier League.

For the first three years, only three teams will be involved in PSL and the top-4 will qualify for the semi-finals after the group stages. However, the PCB plans to extend the number of franchises involved from the fourth year onwards.

“A lot of hard work has been put in place to develop the PSL,” Zaka Ashraf, the PCB chairman said. “The objective is to recognise the growth of T20 cricket around the world, encourage our cricketers and give them the exposure to the grass-root talent in
the country. It will also provide opportunity to foreign players to compete in Pakistan.”

The event is scheduled to start in March this year and it will definitely attract large number of crowds, especially because of the growing interest of public in Twenty-20 cricket. If it is a success, it could end up being the revival of international cricket
in Pakistan.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=37207

Posted by Waqar Masood on Jan 11 2013. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry